Hotel Reservation Ideas for Business and Leisure Travelers

Are you making a hotel reservation in the near future? If you are, chances are that you will be making the hotel reservation online. Internet reservations are easy to make and you can compare a number of different hotels at the same time so that you can make a decision based on price, amenities and location. However, there are some things that you may want to consider if you are making a hotel reservation, especially if you are traveling with a group, or you want to have a business conference in conjunction with the stay, or even if you are traveling with children.

Although your first thought when making a hotel reservation is probably to jump on the internet, you may want to call the hotel as well. If you are hosting or organizing a business conference it can be extremely helpful to talk to the hotel management in person so that you can get a clear picture of what is available. If it is local, you should plan on making an in-person visit before you make the hotel reservation.

Another reason that you might want to call is if you have special needs. If you have a large family or group and you want adjoining rooms or a discounted rate, it may be helpful to call the hotel and see what the possibilities are. If you are an individual with disabilities, you should make sure that the hotel can accommodate those special needs when you make your hotel reservation as well.

Deciding where to make the hotel reservation is important. If you need to be in a specific location, you should look for a hotel which is central to activities that your group would be interested in. If you are simply traveling for pleasure, and the location does not matter so much, you may want to go to an all-inclusive travel website and see if there are any package deals that appeal to you. If you will be staying long term (more than a week or two) you should find out if there are hotels which have kitchenettes or laundry service.

When you are making the reservation you should make sure that you find out what the cancellation policies are as well as the arrival and check out times. If you are with a group, are there penalties for using less rooms than you originally requested, or can you get more rooms if you need them?

Eriani Doyel writes articles about Travel and Leisure. If you would like more information about hotel reservations visit ftihotels.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eriani_Doyel

Hong Kong Hotel Reservations

Hong Kong is one of the premier tourist destinations today. The country has hundreds of hotels that cater to all kinds of visitors for business as well as tourism.

Hong Kong hotels require reservations, especially during peak season. Reservations can be done either directly at the hotel or through an agent. These agents have a few member hotels where they would provide accommodation.

Today, Hong Kong hotel reservations can be easily made over the Internet. Many of the hotels have online reservation forms that can be readily filled. These forms contain basic information such as the number of rooms, number of guests, check-in date, check-out date, and any promotion codes. The availability can be checked at the click of a button. The customer would get an immediate confirmation if the rooms are available. Some online forms also have the option to check out different kinds of rooms (one bed/two beds/suite/smoking/disability), and different prices, before making a reservation. Modification or cancellation can also be done online. However, most hotels require cancellation to be done at least 1 day before the check-in date. They also charge some cancellation fees. Reservations can also be made via e-mail. Another way to make a reservation is by phone. Many hotels have toll-free numbers from many major countries.

Corporate and group bookings can also be done online. These online forms also accommodate different reservation options such as entertainment cards, AAA memberships, club memberships, government /military rates, reward nights, etc. Some online forms also contain different optional amenities required such as an indoor pool, beach access, pets allowed, breakfast included, high speed internet access, laundry facilities, airport shuttle, kids suites, kids eat free and others. Depending on these requirements, the room in a particular hotel can be reserved.

Other modes of reservation are by WAP devices, browser-based phones with support for XHTML, CHTML and WML 1.1 or 2.0, pocket PC devices, palm devices, Treo, Blackberry and other forms of wireless technology.

Hong Kong Hotels provides detailed information on Hong Kong Hotels, Luxury Hong Kong Hotels, Discount Hong Kong Hotels, Hong Kong Hotel Reservations and more. Hong Kong Hotels is affiliated with Cheap Singapore Hotels.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_Morgan

Best Practices For Hotel Reservation

When a hotel, motel or a similar type of business establishment is participating in the Guaranteed Reservations service for cardholders, the hotel must have a room available when the cardholder arrives (until checkout time the next day). The cardholder, for his or her part, must cancel a confirmed reservation before 18:00 at the hotel (merchant's local time). Failure to do this will allow the hotel to charge the cardholder a no-show charge equal to one night's lodging. The following procedures will be in force:

1. If a cardholder calls a hotel and wants to book a room using a credit or debit card, the reservation representative must explain the terms of the Guaranteed Reservations service, and specifically include the fact that an authorization check will be made at the time of arrival and the cancellation procedure the cardholder must follow to avoid being charged a no-show charge equal to one night's lodging.
2. The representative takes the cardholder's account information and confirms the room rate and location. Then the cardholder is issued a reservation confirmation number. It is recommended that the hotel also confirm the reservation in writing, advising the cardholder of his or her confirmation number and cancellation procedures.
3. If a cardholder who has booked his or her reservation using his or her card calls the hotel to cancel the reservation within the agreed upon period, the hotel must cancel the reservation and issue the cardholder a cancellation number that is verification that the reservation has been canceled. It is also recommended that the hotel confirm the cancellation in writing advising the cardholder of the cancellation number.
4. If a cardholder who has booked a reservation by using his or her card arrives within the specified period (until checkout time the next day), the hotel must provide a room. If the hotel is unable to provide a room, the hotel must provide at no additional charge a comparable room for one night, transportation to the other lodging and a three-minute domestic or long distance phone call, whichever the cardholder deems necessary to advise of a change of location.
5. Before the cardholder's expected arrival, the hotel must prepare a registration card and assign a room number on that card.
6. If the cardholder does not cancel and does not stay at the hotel, the hotel may bill the cardholder for one night's room rate. The following procedures should be followed:
   1. The hotel completes a transaction filling in the cardholder's name and card account information, date of no-show, assigned room number and merchant identification, and writes the words "guaranteed reservation/no-show" in place of the cardholder's signature.
   2. Follow your usual authorization procedures.
   3. Providing the account is under the floor limit, or authorization has been given, the merchant deposits the no-show charge in the usual manner.
   4. The actual no-show registration card, reflecting the assigned room number, must be retained six months from the date the sales ticket is deposited.
7. If the account number used to guarantee the transaction that results in a no-show was unidentifiable as to a specific card issuer or was fictitious, the bearer of the liability will be the acquiring bank. The acquiring bank also bears the liability if the transaction is identifiable to a specific card issuer but is not identifiable to a specific account number within the card issuer.

Merchant Services Card Payment Services Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Cole